ENERGY
Gov. Gray Davis and Southern California Edison reached a deal for the state to buy Edison’s power-transmission grid for $2.76 billion; the move puts Edison on a separate track from Pacific Gas & Electric Co., San Francisco, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection April 6 A joint venture of Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp. and Duke Energy Corp. has won contracts to build five power plants in four states, including Arizona, and to complete two power plants under construction near Boston.
TOP STORIES
Cushman Realty Corp., Los Angeles, agreed to be acquired by Cushman & Wakefield Inc. (see Real Estate column, page 61) Irvine Sensors Corp., Costa Mesa, filed a shelf registration to sell up to $100 million in preferred shares, debt and warrants Krause’s Furniture Inc., Brea, said it will close 15 stores, auditor Arthur Andersen LLP questioned the company’s viability, and the American Stock Exchange warned it may delist the company’s shares, which fell 52% to 19 cents on the news A Huntington Beach-made Boeing Delta II lifted the Mars Odyssey probe into space from Kennedy Space Center in Florida Nasdaq and the OC Business Journal began listing share prices in decimals for the first time.
TECHNOLOGY
Midwest Express Airlines will order up to 50 Long Beach-made Boeing 717-200 airliners Autobytel.com Inc., Irvine, will acquire Autoweb.com Inc. for $14.5 million Powerwave Technologies Inc., Santa Ana, posted a higher-than-expected first-quarter net loss Lantronix Inc., Irvine, will acquire Lightwave Communications, Milford, Conn.; the company also said it expects earnings for the quarter ended March 30 to meet or beat estimates Performance Processing Co., Orange, sold its silicone rubber custom-compounding assets to GE Silicones, Waterford, N.Y. Datum Inc., Irvine, said its first-quarter earnings will beat estimates Western Digital Corp., Lake Forest, formed a holding company for its subsidiaries and renamed its hard-drive division Western Digital Technologies Inc. Compass Aerospace Corp., Santa Ana, was unable to make a $4.7 million interest payment due Sunday Odetics Inc.’s Gyyr unit sold its dome video and controller product lines to Silent Witness Enterprises Ltd., Surrey, British Columbia, for $1.3 million.
HEALTHCARE
Cooper Cos., Lake Forest, announced it plans to buy CL-Tinters, a Finnish maker of cosmetic contact lenses for undisclosed terms Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc., Tustin, named 12% stakeholder Edward J. Legere president and CEO, replacing John Bonfiglio, who resigned Cardiac Science Inc., Irvine, received approval to market its Powerheart defibrillator in Canada Micro Therapeutics Inc., Irvine, received FDA approval to begin testing its systems to treat malformed blood vessels in the brain Chromavision Medical Systems Inc., San Juan Capistrano, said its cellular imaging system detected breast cancer in 76% of test subjects with the disease and produced no false positives from cancer-free subjects.
GOVERNMENT
The state Parks and Recreation Department will close the El Morro Mobile Home Park and create a public recreation area on the 10 acres of oceanfront property Irvine and Lake Forest rejected a county offer to cap the proposed expansion of the James A. Musick Branch Jail at 3,600 beds The Southern California Association of Governments endorsed a regional air-traffic plan that calls for a large airport at El Toro; an FAA consultant told the group that planned northerly takeoffs there are problematic because of air-traffic issues; Irvine officials said they will not support a plan to refurbish former military housing on the former base into low-income units District Attorney’s Office investigators seized computer equipment and documents from the office of Huntington Beach Councilman Dave Garofalo, who is under investigation for alleged conflict of interest.
REAL ESTATE
A group led by Beverly Hills-based Kennedy-Wilson and Pasadena-based Hudson Properties acquired the former Pacific Savings Bank building in Costa Mesa from Nickolas N. Shammas for $18.5 million.
FINANCE
First American Corp., Santa Ana, said it will meet or exceed first-quarter earnings estimates.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Wet Seal Inc.
Wet Seal Inc., Foothill Ranch, said it will more than double capital expenditures this year to $44 million, mostly for new stores and remodeling of existing outlets Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., Anaheim, warned that its first-quarter earnings will not meet expectations Stephen E. Carley was named president and CEO of Irvine-based El Pollo Loco, succeeding Nelson J. Marchioli, who became head of Advantica Restaurant Group Inc. in January A federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Converse Inc. to Footwear Acquisition Inc., rejecting a $117.5 million bid by Irvine-based American Sporting Goods Corp. Lincoln Mercury, Irvine, will sell 50 special edition Lincoln Blackwood luxury pickups through the spring Neiman Marcus catalog Winchell’s Donut House, Santa Ana, promoted general manager Bob Zanolli to president Disney’s California Adventure reopened its Mulholland Madness roller coaster.
